Main Entry:

¹sweat

Pronunciation:

\ˈswet\

Function:

verb

Inflected Form(s):

sweat or sweat·ed; sweat·ing

Etymology:

Middle English sweten, from Old English swǣtan, from swāt sweat; akin to Old High German sweiz sweat, Latin sudare to sweat, Greek hidrōs sweat

Date:

before 12th century

intransitive verb1 a: to excrete moisture in visible quantities through the openings of the sweat glands : perspire b: to labor or exert oneself so as to cause perspiration2 a: to emit or exude moisture <cheese sweats in ripening> b: to gather surface moisture in beads as a result of condensation <stones sweat at night> c (1): ferment (2): putrefy3: to undergo anxiety or mental or emotional distress <sweat through final exams>4: to become exuded through pores or a porous surface : oozetransitive verb1: to emit or seem to emit from pores : exude2: to manipulate or produce by hard work or drudgery3: to get rid of or lose (weight) by or as if by sweating or being sweated4: to make wet with perspiration5 a: to cause to excrete moisture from the skin b: to drive hard : overwork c: to exact work from at low wages and under unfair or unhealthful conditions dslang : to give the third degree to6: to cause to exude or lose moisture ; especially : to subject (as tobacco leaves) to fermentation7 a: to extract something valuable from by unfair or dishonest means : fleece b: to remove particles of metal from (a coin) by abrasion8 a: to heat (as solder) so as to melt and cause to run especially between surfaces to unite them ; also : to unite by such means <sweat a pipe joint> b: to heat so as to extract an easily fusible constituent <sweat bismuth ore> c: to sauté in a covered vessel until natural juices are exuded9slang : to worry about <doesn't sweat the small stuff — Barry McDermott>

— sweat blood

: to work or worry intensely <in preparing speeches each sweats blood in his own way — Stewart Cockburn>